SVF

Trailer of Srijit Mukherjee’s Uma released; cast and crew praise debut child artiste Sara Sengupta

Apr 30, 2018 Publication : Cinestaan

The trailer offers a peek into the journey of a father who is on a mission to fulfill the wishes of his terminally ill daughter.

The trailer of filmmaker Srijit Mukherji’s upcoming feature film Uma was released amidst festive celebrations at the Shobhabazar Rajbari, famous for its traditional Durga Puja celebrations on 28 April. 

The producer, SVF Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., created the ambience of Durga Puja at the venue to commemorate the event, as the biggest Bengali festival plays an important role in the film.

The trailer was unveiled by the director, following a performance by Dhaki players and Dhunuchi dancers, in the presence of the cast including Jisshu Sengupta, Sara Sengupta, Sayantika Banerjee, Rudranil Ghosh and Anirban Bhattacharya.

Music composer Neel Dutt and cinematographer Soumik Haldar too graced the ocassion with their presence, while actors Anjan Dutt and actress Srabanti Chatterjee, who also play important roles in the film, couldn’t make it to the gala event.

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The trailer begins with a heart-warming song by singer-actress Surangana Bandyopadhyay featuring Uma (Sara Sengupta) sprinting in a traditional Bengali attire, while her father Himadri (Jisshu Sengupta) tries to catch up with her. Thus, it directs us to the world of Uma, a vibrant young girl, who is unfortunately fighting a terminal disease.

Her helpless father desperately strives to make her one last wish, celebrating Durga Puja, come true. However, the puja takes place during the autumn and little Uma doesn’t have much time to live.

As the desperate father hires a film director (Anjan Dutt) to recreate the festival in the month of March, he comes across many obstacles posed by religious fanatics and the director himself.

The trailer offers a peek into the continuous struggle of Himadri and shows how he manages to get everyone on his side to set a rare example of humanity.

The trailer presents the emotional journey of each of the characters, with tense sequences building upto the relief of success at the end.

“Uma is a film which is very close to my heart and so is Sara, who would be entering this industry with my venture. The trailer of Uma shows how a father can go to any extent for his daughter’s smile. Uma’s story resonates the symbolisation of hope coupled with the power of unity,” exclaimed director Srijit Mukherji.

“I sincerely feel that all the actors in this film have poured out their emotions naturally rather than acting out their parts and this makes the journey so special for me,” he added.

In the film, Mukherji has carefully chosen the names of the characters from mythical stories and has linked the tale of the victory of goddess Durga to that of fulfilling the dream of Uma.

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“I think this film is a milestone in my brief career so far as this is my first work with Srijit da, Anjan Dutt and Rudranil da. Especially, I am going to cherish the moments in which I share the screen with Sara. I am grateful to Srijit da and Sara for those moments,” actor Anirban Bhattacharya said.

All the actors seemed overwhelmed to witness child artist Sara Sengupta’s and could not hold themselves while praising her.

“I am sure that the audience is going to have a unique experience in watching Uma on screen. Her performance surpasses all of ours that we have delivered overcoming the fear for the director. All I want to say is that, in her first film, Sara has delivered a performance, which experienced actors like us partly manage to put up after gaining experience in four or five films,” actor Rudranil Ghosh observed.

Actor Jisshu Sengupta said the film is special for him because his daughter Sara has worked in it. “It is needless to say that this film is special for me because of my daughter Sara. I still remember the day when Srijit approached us to allow Sara to work in his film. He visited us around 12.30 at night and said, ‘I want Sara to work for my film’. We declined the proposal straight away. Suddenly, Sara woke up from her sleep and asked what Srijit was doing at that time at our place. Srijit said, ‘I think it is a waste of time to ask your parents, I want you to decide whether you wish to work in my film’.”

“He then narrated the story to Sara in 10 to 15 minutes and Sara agreed to do the film instantly, to our surprise. Today, I really feel proud when actors such as Rudranil and Anirban appreciate Sara’s performance, though I cannot help but feel a certain nervousness till the film is finally released,” said Jisshu.

“There are few films that I have ventured into depending on the actors. Apart from Autograph’s (2010) story, which I built keeping Prosenjit in mind, Uma is the only film, I conceived, based on Sara [sic]. Had Sara declined my proposal, perhaps, I would not lay my hand on this project,” confessed the director.

Soumik Haldar thanked Sara for making their experience of working in the film meaningful.

The true attraction of the event, Sara, is happy that she could make many friends on the film’s sets. “This was a whole new experience for me and the best part was that I made so many friends on the set,” she said.

Nilanjana Sengupta, Sara’s mother, too echoed the thoughts of her daughter, “Sara repeatedly told me that she made great friends and how they all protected her and made her comfortable on the sets. I feel this is a very important thing for a girl of her age in an era when it is really hard to make friends.”

Uma is scheduled to hit the screens on 1 June.

Watch the trailer here:

Source : bit.ly/2rMfcou